Why coach who launched Gonzaga’s dynasty has no regrets about leaving it behind

It was July 1999, and Dan Monson was a wreck. Monson had every intention of remaining the coach at Gonzaga for many years when he returned home from three weeks in Spain and found a voicemail from Minnesota athletic director Mark Dienhart on his…

I walked into the Alehouse on a Tuesday night the day before a PSU/Minn game back in the early aughts and flopped down at the bar to grab a bite to eat only to look up and see Monson and two of his assistants sitting at the bar next to me grabbing a cold one (or two). Had an enjoyable time talking to the three of them.

“It always comes down to the roster,” Van Gundy said. “And every time you lose sight of that in any sport, thinking that you’re going to out-coach or out-work, no - it’s roster-based. And ‘roster-based’ could be talent, it could be character, it could be skill, but it comes down to your roster.”*

It’s why this staff is important: They’ve assembled a foundation that is unparalleled at Penn State (certainly when class year is factored in).

*I edited this from “it comes down to your talent level so, or your roster” because I believe Van Gundy was correcting himself - he meant to say ‘roster’. Caveat emptor.